For 32 years, the Annual Symposium on the American Indian has brought the social issues of American Indians to the forefront and helped ISU students become more aware of a culture seemingly unknown to them.

Every year since 1971, the organizers behind the symposium have sponsored an American Indian artist and have shown an exhibit of his or her artwork as part of the symposium.

This year’s artist is James Starkey, with an exhibit titled “Tapestry of a Common Man.”

Jill Wagner, faculty adviser for the American Indian Rights Organization, said she and the other organizers of the symposium decided to invite Starkey after seeing him at a meeting of the National Indian Education Association.

“We saw his work, and we heard his message,” she said. “That’s all we needed to know to invite him.”

Lynn Paxson, adviser to the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, said Starkey’s art is a combination of traditional and contemporary style and themes.

She said the exhibit relates to the symposium’s theme of “Tribal Traditions Eternal Law,” because his art deals with the traditions of the past updated in modern terms.

Paxson said Starkey is accustomed to using many styles of painting, so viewers should not expect consistency in his work.

“When people come out of the exhibit, they should be saying, ‘That wasn’t what I expected,’ ” she said.

One popular style Starkey uses in much of his work is called ledger art, in which he uses pages of ledger books as a canvas for his paintings and drawings.

Starkey updated the method, which has been used with the American Indians since the 1800s, by not only using ledger paper as a canvas, but also by embedding the paper as part of his art.

In addition to his speech, Starkey will join a panel discussion with other keynote speakers on the topic of “Tribal Laws and the Issues of Sovereignty” at 9 a.m. Saturday.

“Tapestry of a Common Man” is located in the Gallery Room of the Memorial Union and will be open to the public through Monday.

Wagner said she hopes the art exhibit will be a new experience for people new to modern American Indian art.

“Not all American Indian art is the same,” she said. “They encompass a wide variety of styles, more diverse than what you might think.”